Figuring Things Out

The build sheet.

And the rest of the build sheet.

Subassemblies coming off.

Cleaning things up.

The torch helps.

As you can see from the inspection checklist, we’ve identified a large amount of weak or bad areas to address on the Midget. We’ll be using this information to start planning parts orders and deciding what to save.

We’ve also been disassembling various subassemblies that we previously removed. We’ve pulled the gauges from the dash, disassembled the doors, etc.

These pictures show the left side of the front suspension.

The right side came apart like butter—a rare treat with a Midget. The left side was more typical. The lower fulcrum pin on the stub axle/kingpin assembly had seized to the kingpin. The mounting area in the A-arm was also damaged, with several stress cracks.

We got out our biggest torch tip (the Mighty Rosebud), but even that couldn’t unseize the pin. Time to cut.

We’ll be rebuilding the stub axles/kingpins and installing bigger brakes. While the A-arm can be repaired, we’ll most likely just get a new one. Why take chances?